Microsoft announces Copilot+ PC – laptops with built-in generative artificial intelligence capabilities

Microsoft is making a significant push to introduce AI into laptops. The company has introduced a new brand of Copilot+ PCs – PCs with Copilot+. It is intended to emphasize that Windows laptops are equipped with built-in hardware resources for processing AI tasks and support AI functions in the operating system.

The AI functions are made possible by the neural processor that is part of the laptops. One of the main functions it will provide is Recall. It is supposed to use artificial intelligence to create a «photographic memory» with the ability to search for everything you have done and seen on your PC. The laptops will work with more than 40 AI models as part of Windows 11 to deliver these new features. Microsoft’s built-in AI-powered assistant, Copilot, will also get support for the GPT-4o model.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s executive director of Windows, said that the new laptops will be «58% faster» than the MacBook Air with an M3 processor, and the battery life will be «all day». Microsoft expects to sell 50 million laptops under the Copilot+ PC brand over the next year.

There are certain hardware requirements for Copilot+ PCs. They must have an NPU unit, at least 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD with a capacity of at least 256 GB. Arm versions based on Qualcomm processors should provide up to 15 hours of battery life during web surfing.

Such systems will be offered by Microsoft itself as part of the Surface line, as well as by key partners such as Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, HP, Acer, and Asus. While making a big push to bring Arm chips to Windows laptops, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that laptops with Intel and AMD chips will also have these AI features.

Microsoft sees these devices as the beginning of a new era of Windows laptops. The transition to Arm-based chips can significantly increase battery life on such laptops. And the new AI features are designed to run on the hardware resources of the processor. These are two big bets on untested hardware and software. If they work, they could be transformative changes for Windows laptops.

Source: The Verge